Festival of Lights
by Fletset
Summary: Since everyone write Christmas fics, I decided to write a Chanukah fic! I don't know if it's funny enough, but give it a chance! please?


Disclaimer: Pokemon doesn't belong to me, but Emily and Luke do so don't take them. About Pokemon…well…it doesn't belong to me so don't sue me. I'm writing these stories for fun.

Author's note: IMPORTANT!!!! 

Everyone writing Christmas fics so I decided: "I'm Jewish, so why not to write a Chanukah fic?" so here it is. I live in Israel, so the way to celebrate Chanukah is different from the American way…or any other way…

And what's that thing with a present each day of Chanukah? I didn't even GET a present this year! But my birthday present was enough…and my birthday is a week before Chanukah so…never mind. 

Enjoy the fic! And if there are Christians who are reading this, I hope you'll learn something new on Chanukah!

Some of the words that have something to do with Chanukah (like spinning top…what is the right spelling for that?) may not be the way they are in English, but don't blame me. Blame the dictionary that couldn't find the right word…

Sorry for any spelling/grammar mistakes.

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Festival of lights

It was about a week before Christmas and Ash, Misty and Brock were, as usual, lost in a never-ending forest. Ash wanted to be in Pallet for Christmas, since he missed having the holiday with his mom. The memory of Christmas last year still fresh in his memory: he almost froze to death, not to mention that a few days before he almost drowned. 

He wanted a peaceful and quiet Christmas. To decorate the tree, eat cookies, and be at the traditional party at Professor Oak. He always makes parties on Christmases. 

"How long is it until we are in Pallet, Brock?" Ash asked and looked at the map, trying to figure out by his own where they were.

"According to this map, we still have a week or so until we get there. That's of course, only if we'll get out of this forest soon." He answered and looked around.

"Oh, man…" Ash sat on a rock in desperation. If they will be in Pallet in a week or so, they'll surely miss the party. He wanted to go to this party so much. He didn't stop talking about it for the last few days, and now there is no way he'll make it to the party.

"This is your entire fault, Ash Ketchum!!!" Misty bellowed at him, as if the fact that this Christmas was another one to add to his ruined ones wasn't enough.

"I'm not the one with the map! Brock is!" Ash yelled back in defense.

"Well, you were the one with the map yesterday, and yesterday was the day we got lost!" Misty prepared herself to whack the younger boy with her mallet, but Brock stopped her before she could do something.

"All right, break it up!!!" he yelled and stood between the two. "Can't you two just get along one day? It's Christmas in a week, for god sake! Are you gonna tell me that Christmas means nothing to you?" he asked in annoyance.

"To me it means a lot of food and presents!" Ash said as a smile spread on his face at the memory of all the Christmases that he had when he was young.

"You idiot! Doesn't the spirit means anything to you?" Misty asked in an angry tone.

"No…" he answered in confusion. This time, Brock wasn't able to stop Misty from using her mallet on Ash. 

"Christmas is the holiday of love and sharing…" she said in a daydream tone. Being the romance type in the group did have it's own effects.

Ash got up and rubbed his head. "Whatever…but it's still a shame that this Christmas is another ruined one…" he said in frustrate tone.

"It's not Christmas yet." Brock tried to cheer him up.

"And we always can have a small bonfire, decorate a bush and…" Misty tried too, but stopped short when she realized what she was saying and sat on the rock next to Ash, she too had a frustrate expression. This is going to be the worst Christmas ever!

"Pi?" Pikachu suddenly perked up and looked deeper into the forest.

"Do you hear something, Pikachu?" Ash asked and looked to the same direction as Pikachu.

Everyone listened, alerted to whatever comes. A jolly laugh of children could be heard from not so faraway. 

"At least they're having fun…" Ash commented and turned to his frustrated mood again.

"I won again!" one of the voices said before bursting out laughing. The voice was high, probably a young kid's.

"Hmph…can I try your spinning top? You put something in it! How else can you always win?" a smaller voice whined. It was a girl's voice. She probably was the boy's younger sister or something.

"Spinning…what?" Ash asked with a frown. Misty and Brock shrugged, and then all of them went to the direction of the voices. They peeked from behind a bush, and what they assumed verified. Two children, who looked like brother and sister, sat on the ground and played with a strange looking instrument. 

"Is this a game of shapes match?" Misty tried to guess.

"A peg?" Ash tried, too.

"Or what these children said…spinning pop." Brock said. 

"Wasn't that a spinning _top?" _Misty tried again. They never heard of a whipping…something.

"Maybe…" Brock said. "Hey, Ash. Say…" but when Brock turned to his friend, he saw he wasn't there anymore. "Where did Ash go?" he asked. Misty shook him a little and pointed to the kids' direction.

"So let me get this straight…you turn it like this?" Ash said and turned the spinning top.

"That's our Ash. Making friends already…" Misty commented. She and Brock joined him.

"Hi guys! Those are Emily and Luke. Emily and Luke, these are my friends: Brock and Misty." Ash introduced everyone. 

"Nice to meet you." Both, Emily and Luke said simultaneously. 

"Nice to meet you too…so, what _is _this thing?" Brock inquired.

"That's a spinning top!" said Emily and turned it again.

"What are you doing with it?" Misty asked and looked at the spinning top closely, trying to figure out what is the use of it.

"We can play with it!" answered Luke. "Choose a letter." He said and gave her the spinning top.

"I choose…" she stopped when she saw the strange letters. "What are these letters, anyway?"

"That's Hebrew." Luke answered.

"Hebrew? Nice…" Misty said. "So I choose this letter." She pointed on "Gimel" (A/N: umm…did I say it right?).

"Okay, then I choose Nun." Luke said and gave the spinning top to Emily. After she chose a letter, she gave it to Ash, who looked at it closely before choosing the remaining letter.

"Aren't you playing, Brock?" Ash asked. 

Brock shook his head. "Nah…I'll just watch you from here." He said and sat on the ground, waiting impatiently for them to start playing. Luke turned the spinning top around and after a few seconds, it fell on the ground.

"Nun! Ha! I won again!" he said happily and jumped around, sticking his tongue out to Emily, who stuck her tongue back at him.

"So that's how it goes…" Misty said in understanding. 

"Interesting game." Brock commented with a smile. The sight of the brother and sister sticking their tongues out at each other reminded him of Ash and Misty.

"Emily! Luke! Come back inside! It's time for the candles!" a far voice shouted. It was their mother. Ash, Misty and Brock looked to the direction of the voice and saw a small wooden cabin.

Emily smiled. "Why don't you come with us? It's cold out here at night, and we have a spare room you can sleep in." she suggested.

"And you can light the candles with us, too! It's not Sukkoth, but I guess you still can be our guests." Luke added with his own smile.

"Su…what?" Ash asked. He had enough with those strange words.

"Sukkoth. It's a Jewish holiday in September." Luke explained.

"Jewish? Are you Jews?" Ash asked in wonder. He saw Jewish only on TV, and the boys wore black and the girls wore long skirts. He never knew there are Jews who wear normal clothes. "I never met Jews before, only on TV."

"Then now you're meet." Emily said and her smile faded. She didn't like the way Ash looked at her.

"Luke! Emily!" the voice shouted again more firmly. Emily and Luke took the spinning top and ran to the cabin, indicating to Ash, Misty and Brock follow.

***

The cabin was warm, not cold as the night. There was a smell of food in the air, which made Ash happy. Emily and Luke's parents didn't have resistance to have guests.

"To the table, everyone!" the mother called. Ash, Misty and Brock sat, but the father told them to stand. They obeyed in confusion.

Before the father could explain why, smokebegan filling the living room.

"Prepare for trouble!" Shouted a voice.

"And make it double!" Another voice shouted.

"Even on holidays? Can't we have a break??" Ash said in annoyance.

Jessie shushed him. "To protect the world from devastation!"

"To unite all peoples within our nation!" 

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

"Jessie!"

"James!"

"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"

"Wo…" the pokemon tried, but Mewoth kicked him.

"Mewoth! Dat's right!" he said.

"Team Rocket!" Ash, Misty and Brock yelled simultaneously.

"Yep, that's us! Santa's bad children! Now…give us that Pikachu!" Jessie yelled and pointed on the yellow mouse.

"Never!" Ash yelled back and stood in battle mode. So was Team Rocket.

"Hey, hey! Nor battling today! You are not going to ruin us the holiday!" the father of the family yelled at the two gangs, glaring at them.

"Who asked you?!" James asked angrily.

"No one, actually, but I have a buzzer to call the Police if some criminals enters my house and…" the father started explaining.

Jessie clapped her hand over his mouth quickly. "Uhhh…we understand."

"How would you like to stay with us for the holiday?" the mother asked. 

__

'She's a lot like my mom when she invites even the bad guys to stay.' Ash thought to himself and giggled. He'll never admit it, but he misses his mom terribly.

"But it ain't Christmas yet…" Meowth said in wonder.

"Christmas? Who's talking about Christmas? I'm talking about Chanukah!" the mother said happily and showed them the Chanukah lamp. 

"It's made of pure gold…" James said with a dreamy look, but Jessie punched him. If any scheme is planned, the police will be there in no time.

The father made a face, but then smiled again. "Put these on your heads, boys" he said and gave Ash, Brock and James skullcaps.

Ash put it on his head. "You're look cute as a Jewish." Misty said giggled. Ash blushed.

The father blessed in Hebrew and lit the candles. The two gangs looked at him quizzically.

"Now, what about some food?" the mother asked and presented a tray of traditional Chanukah delicatessen.

"Food! All right! Ash exclaimed happily. Finally, the summit of all holidays "But…what are these things?" 

"Pancakes and doughnuts. Specials of Chanukah." Luke explained and took a doughnut. 

Ash also took one, looked at it for a few minutes and then said, "what is this white powder? Don't tell me it's…" he started to get pale.

"No no no! Don't worry. It's only sugar powder." The father calmed him and took a bite from one of the doughnuts to assure Ash what he just said.

Ash took a bite, closed his eyes and let the flavor spread on his tongue. He opened his eyes and smiled. "That's even better than a regular doughnut!" 

After dinner was done (Ash ate most of it), everyone sat and heard the Chanukah story. They listened intently, though Ash believed that with Pokemon the story could be more interesting.

"I don't think we'll stay for the night, but thanks for the invitation, anyway." James said and turned to the rest of the team. "Let's go!"

"Looks like Team Rocket running off again!" they all said as they ran out of the door and into the forest. Ash, Misty and Brock _did _stay for the night.

***

The morning came and the gang had to live. They thanked the family and left. The father of the family showed them the route to Pallet, so they'll make it to the party, after all.

"Maybe I should become a Jew? Jewish holidays are fun!" Ash asked his companions.

"I don't think you'll make it, Ash. Can you hold a day without food or a week without food that contains flour?' Brock asked with a little smirk on his face.

Ash became a little pale. "There are holidays like that?"

"Yep." Brock answered and started laughing. The rest joined him, and they continued to the horizon…

THE END 

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End file.
